When it comes to Madison Memorial's Vander Blue picking Marquette over the University of Wisconsin, it is important to remember that no one truly knows what a talented high school basketball player is thinking when he selects a college.

So while UW fans may wonder from some of Blue's comments just how much garbage the summer basketball know-nothings have pumped into his 17-year-old head, ultimately they need to accept that it's his future and, therefore, his decision.

Having said that, there was one quote from Blue in the many stories written about his commitment to second-year Marquette coach Buzz Williams that jumped off the page at me. Among other things, Blue said Marquette was a good fit because he has "a real good connection with Buzz."

Buzz?

That's right, Buzz. Not Coach Williams. Not even Coach Buzz or Coach B.

I wasn't privy to their discussions during the recruiting process and I don't know what promises Williams made to turn Blue's head. But that one minor but overly chummy comment is enough to make you wonder what it takes to recruit in an era when players become household names before they even get to high school.

Does a coach have to get on a first-name basis with such a recruit? Become his best friend? Promise him the world?

Certainly, a coach and a player develop a cozy relationship during the recruiting process, but can you imagine one of Bob Knight's recruits calling him Bob? The same goes for players recruited by Roy Williams, Billy Donovan or Tom Izzo.

Make no mistake, gaining a commitment from Blue was a coup for Williams and a major blow for UW coach Bo Ryan. For one thing, Ryan lost Blue, having received a commitment from him during his sophomore year only to have Blue renege on it a year later. For another, since Devin Harris and Alando Tucker moved on to the NBA, UW has had a shortage of athletic playmakers, which is what Blue is projected to be in college.

(Column timeout: Just a thought, but when Blue committed to UW, didn't UW also commit to him? If Blue hadn't grown 2 inches and developed an outside shot, would Ryan have pulled his scholarship offer? I think not.)

Of course, the loss of one recruit won't make or break UW's program. With Ryan's coaching prowess and ability to develop players, the Badgers will continue to be a first-division team in the Big Ten Conference.

But UW's special years under Ryan have come when he had great athletes who were overlooked in the recruiting process (Harris and Tucker) or a nationally recruited in-state big man (the underappreciated Brian Butch). Players such as those make life easier for the many rock-solid role players Ryan develops.

Given the sense of entitlement felt by the top prep players these days and the misguided notion that Ryan's structured system is outdated (actually it's a perfect fit for a multi-talented wing player), one wonders if he will ever be able to recruit the elite players needed to take the program a step or two higher. It is a legitimate question when a blue-chip player from just down the street thumbs his nose at you.

Ryan still has a great product to sell. The Big Ten was the No.1-rated conference last year and is expected to be No. 1 again this year. The school, the arena, the fan support and the exposure are first-rate. The tradition -- three Big Ten titles in Ryan's eight years -- speaks for itself.

Ryan also has established an atmosphere where players improve their skills and learn how to play the game. That's why Harris and Tucker developed into NBA first-round draft picks, something Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James failed to do under Williams last season at Marquette.

But perception is reality, and the perception is Ryan's old-school program is no longer a good fit for the elite player. Ryan contributes to that perception because he refuses to play the recruiting game where the coach tells the player anything he wants to hear just to get a commitment, then has to de-recruit him once he gets to campus.

Ryan's program is built on certain long-standing principles. His refusal to compromise those principles is in many ways the key to his success. But the recruiting world has changed radically, and if Ryan isn't able to figure out a new approach, I fear we've already seen the best years of his tenure.

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